The Boy Behind the Mask
by braceletnumbersix
Summary: One-shot of how Kyle Klim asked his father for a mother. Special thanks to feytaline-loves for helping beta my story!


Kyle Klim, 11 years old. The young boy sat isolated in his room, trying to pass the time by playing one of his favorite games, Angry Birds. It was a game that had managed to keep him quite entertained, well, most of the time, anyway. Today, he couldn't help but sigh. He found that he was feeling… _lonely_?

No, maybe that wasn't the proper word for it. Longing, _that_ was it, that was the correct term. He had been feeling that longing for a long time now. It was the yearning to have a mother, like the ones he had been reading about in his books- where there was a happy family consisting of a mother, a father, and excited children full of joy and laughter. The family would get along, play games with each other, eat dinner together, watch movies together, and at the end of the day the parents would tuck the children into bed and read to them. The mother was always kind, and full of love.

Kyle wanted that kind of mother, one who would do all of those things with him. He wanted a mother who loved him, one who would spend time with him, teach him things, read to him, and play games with him. He wanted to be able to live like a normal human being, and experience a normal family relationship.

He knew that Dr. Klim was his family-he was Kyle's father, or well, so he was told. The two had hardly ever engaged in conversation, and Kyle barely ever saw him. He was always too busy in the lab, working on his research. They had what could barely be called a "father son relationship". Heck, the two of them had hardly any kind of relationship _at all_ with one another. Kyle frowned at that thought, why couldn't he just have an average family? Why didn't he have a mother? Had he done something wrong? Was it his fault that he didn't have a mother? It was strange, really.

Maybe he could approach his father and ask him why he didn't have one? Or better yet, just ask him if he _could_ have one? He wasn't sure what his father would say. Kyle had never asked him for anything before, and not to mention, when would he ask him? He wasn't allowed to interrupt the doctor while he was doing his research, and he only ever left the lab to sleep.

Kyle thought about it for a moment, before coming to an agreement with himself. He decided that he would try to catch his father just as he was leaving the lab for the night. The young boy smiled, but he also felt nervous. He wasn't sure how his father would react to such a question. He hoped that Dr. Klim wouldn't be angry with him, but he would just have to wait and see.

Smiling once more, Kyle began playing his game again, killing time to when he could go and ask his dad the question.

Finally, the time had come. It was time for Kyle to go and ask the question that had been on his mind all day. He exited out of his bedroom, heading for the laboratory where his father worked every single day, conducting research for who-knows-what.

On the way there, Kyle had tried to prepare what he would say to his father in his head, trying to figure out exactly how he would approach the question. Unfortunately, his thinking time was cut short as he suddenly came across his father in the hallway. He must have left the laboratory a few minutes early tonight. Kyle drew back a step and stared at the doctor. Kyle opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

Dr. Klim looked down at the younger male. It was silent for a moment until the old man broke the silence.

"Kyle," he grumbled, giving the child a curt nod in greeting.

Kyle looked up at him in response. He had noticed the tired look on his face and was beginning to think that this was a bad idea. He tried to think of something to say, but it was as if his mind had drawn a blank. He stared at his father silently, thinking, _thinking_ of how he could word what he wanted to ask. Granted, this was something he should of thought about earlier, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Do you need something?" Dr. Klim asked, once again in a gruff, tired tone. Kyle froze, his heart was starting to beat incredibly fast. It was now or never. Kyle drew in a breath and finally asked…

"Father, I would like a mother."

It was silent after that. Awkwardly silent. Kyle didn't know what his father was thinking. He tried to search his face for a reaction, but found nothing. He held his breath, and his heart started to beat even faster than before.

After what seemed like a life time, Dr. Klim finally gave Kyle his answer.

"Ok." That was his answer, nothing more, nothing less.

After giving Kyle his answer he walked passed the child, more than likely heading to bed. Kyle stood in place though, his face beaming with happiness. His father had said yes! He was finally going to have a mother!

Over joyed, Kyle ran back to his room. He still couldn't believe his father had complied! This was the best day ever-for now, anyway. He already knew his ( _real_ )best day ever would be the day he got his mom.

He sat on his bed, thinking of what she would be like. Would she be pretty, smart, happy and loving? Would she teach him things and scold him if he did something wrong? Kyle hoped so, that was the kind of mother he wanted.

He settled down under the covers. He could lay there all he wanted, but he knew he probably wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon. He was just too excited. His mind kept whirling with ideas and thoughts of the mother he was finally going to get.

After a couple of hours, Kyle began to calm down. He found himself getting sleepy. Having high hopes of seeing his mother soon, he slowly drifted into sleep.

The next morning when Kyle woke up, he sat up and yawned, then suddenly remembered the previous night. His excitement came back to him, and he hopped out of bed and left his room in a hurry.

He ran down the hall towards his fathers laboratory, in high hopes of his new mom being there. As he got to the door of the lab, he knocked on it and waited in anticipation for his father to answer.

At first he had suspected that his father wasn't going to answer, but the door finally opened up to reveal Dr. Klim standing there.

It was then that it hit Kyle-he had disturbed his father while he was working. He wasn't supposed to do that. He hoped that his father wouldn't be cross with him.

Dr. Klim looked down at his son, folding his arms. "Well? What do you want? I'm busy, Kyle."

Well, he didn't sound angry. That was always the usual tone his father used when speaking to Kyle, so at least he wasn't mad. Dr. Klim continued to look at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak.

"I…well, I was wondering if my mother was here," the boy squeaked innocently. Like the previous night, he tried to search his fathers face for a reaction. He once again found nothing. Dr. Klim just sighed.

"Kyle, how do you suppose I would have got her overnight? It'll be a while. I need to get back to work." Without waiting for his son to reply, Dr. Klim turned around and disappeared back inside his lab, the door closing behind him.

Kyle frowned, disappointed, but he did have to admit that his father had a point. It was silly of him to think she would suddenly be here the next morning. He would just have to be more patient... though surely it wouldn't take too long, right?

The boy trudged back to his room. He decided that he would read to pass the time. He had quite the selection of books, after all. He scanned them, trying to decide which one he would pick.

One book in particular caught his eye. He picked it up and looked at the cover. The title read " _Meet My Family!_ ". This was one of Kyle's favorites, and one of the first he had learned to read. The book portrayed a young child talking about their family, and introducing who each family member was. After reading this book was when Kyle had begun to wonder why he didn't have a mother like the one shown in it. But that didn't really matter anymore, all of that was going to change now. It had taken years for him to finally ask his father about the situation, but the point was now that he had done it, he was getting what he had wanted his whole life. Satisfied, he smiled and sat on the floor. Crossing his legs he began reading over the book he cherished so much.

And so Kyle continued to wait as patiently as an 11 year old boy could. Long days turned into long weeks, and longer weeks turned into even longer months. He was beginning to wonder if his mother would ever show up. It wasn't until three months after asking his father for a mother that the day finally came.

It started out as an ordinary day for Kyle. He woke up, got out of bed, and went to go eat some food. It wasn't until he was on his way back to his room that his father had appeared.

Kyle was shocked that his father was, for once, out of the lab while he was supposed to be working. Not only that, his father was stopping to talk to him.

"Come to the lab with me, I've got something to show you." Dr. Klim nodded at his son and left, walking in the direction of the laboratory.

Kyle stood there for a brief moment, half-in shock and half-nervous. Did his father just invite him into the lab? There was no way this was real… And on top of that, _why_ was he calling him there? The possibility then hit Kyle- could it be that Dr. Klim wanted to introduce him to his new mom? The boy smiled widely and jogged after his father, his heart pounding with excitement.

The two arrived at the lab, and Dr. Klim wasted no time entering. Kyle followed close behind him. It was then that he saw her- a beautiful, young woman standing there next to a table near the center of the room.

Kyle could barely breathe. He couldn't believe his eyes, or his mind, or anything really- this all felt like a wonderful dream to him. She was smiling softly at Kyle, and he couldn't help but smile back. His father, standing beside the woman, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kyle, this is GTF-DM-L-016, otherwise known as Luna, I suppose." Dr. Klim looked at her and nodded, and the young woman bowed slightly.

"Please to meet you, Kyle." She spoke, her voice soft and kind. But that wasn't what Kyle was focusing his attention on.

What had his father just said? ' _GTF-DM-L-016_ '? Wasn't that a GAULEM ID? Kyle stared in disbelief. Had his father seriously given him a GAULEM…a _robot_ , as a mother?

He didn't want that… he wanted a real human being. Why would his father do something like this? The boy took a small step back, eyeing his father. This wonderful dream had managed to turn into a horrible nightmare.

"I don't want a mother with specifically programmed feelings…" Kyle began in a hushed tone. Before Dr. Klim could get a word in, he continued.

"I don't want some… some sort of a machine that just takes orders from a human!" Looking at his father, he noticed that he seemed astonished. He had never seen his father display such an emotion before. He watched his father as he frowned and let out a small, awkward cough.

"Don't be such a whiner, Kyle." The doctor's voice was strict and harsh as he stared at the child with a serious look on his face.

Kyle stared back wide-eyed at the man. This was the first time his father had ever scolded him for something. He couldn't believe it… How could he possibly scold him for this? He wasn't being whiny! He was _right_! How dare his father scold him for this, how _dare_ he give him a damn GAULEM as a "mother" in the first place! This was all his father's fault! Kyle balled his fists, and clenched his teeth. He had never been so angry before in his life.

"Fuck you! Just because you're too dense to understand what I really want doesn't mean I'm a whiner!" Kyle immediately felt sort of bad for saying what he just had, especially the first part. He had never been one to use profanity before, and he knew just how cruel of a word that one in particular was. He had originally heard his father yell it when he had accidentally hurt himself while doing some work, and he was told then that it was a bad word. But now wasn't the time to feel sympathy, he was too furious to care. Tears started to form in his eyes, and they made their way down his face.

Dr. Klim made no comment on his son's vulgar outburst. Instead, he seemed to pretend as if Kyle had not spoken at all.

"Luna, take care of Kyle. And both of you leave, now." The GAULEM listened straight away, and advanced towards Kyle.

"Come on Kyle, let's go." She still spoke softly, although the smile that was once on her face had turned into a frown several minutes prior. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Whatever!" He stomped off, leaving the lab. He didn't want that pathetic robot anywhere near him.

He decided to go to his room, away from where everyone else was. He could hear the robot following behind him, its pace staying the same. It was probably keeping just close enough to take care of him just as his father had ordered it to. Once he finally reached his room he turned to the robot and glared at it.

"Would you just leave me alone?! I don't want you anywhere near me!" He opened the door to his room, and as he entered he shut the door and locked it.

Sitting inside, he could hear the robot outside talking.

"Oh please Kyle, I-"

Kyle wasted no time in cutting off the GAULEM. "I said _leave me alone_!"

It was obvious his mood wasn't going to improve anytime soon. Thankfully, the robot seemed to have got the memo and finally left.

Kyle lay back in his bed, wondering how his dad could do this to him. How could his father think that this was okay? Had he really not stopped to think that Kyle would want a real human being as a mother, and not just some stupid machine? If he wanted a machine, he could just use the education software his dad had given him.

At least he knew now, though. He knew to never expect anything from his father ever again. But then… why was it that he felt so sad? He rarely ever spoke to his father anyway, so who cared if he stopped expecting things from him, who _cared_ if he tried avoiding him like the plague?

Maybe... _he_ did. Was it possible that maybe, deep down, all along he had just wanted a real relationship with his father? The boy shook his head slowly. It was too late, his father would always choose his research over him, and it was clear that his father would never understand him.

In the days to come, Kyle found himself being trailed by the pesky GAULEM that had been ordered by Dr. Klim to take care of him. No matter where he would go the robot would follow, trying to talk with him, and would try to do things for him. Kyle would just coldly ignore it. He wanted nothing to do with the scrap of metal.

The robot may have been kind, and willing to be with Kyle and do things with him, but it wasn't real. It was a robot, it was programmed to have those feelings and actions. It didn't truly care about him, not like a human would. The robot would often look sad or hurt when Kyle would ignore it, or walk away from it while it was talking, but he didn't care. He would always remind himself that it wasn't real, those feelings weren't real and that it wasn't actually feeling anything at all. The emotions that it displayed were nothing but lies. Lies made by a man who was the biggest liar of them all…

Kyle thought that he was angry at his father now, and he thought that he couldn't ever be any angrier with him, but he was wrong. Many years later, he would find himself even more infuriated with him, and with the woman he would recognize as his mother. He would find out that his own life would be nothing but a lie…


End file.
